Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Big Moose in My Front Yard

(** a nodding homage to the Dead Milkmen **)

Round about 5am this morning Ripley started going absolutely berzerk... barking her head off and racing around the tent, including tromping all over us in bed. So, I bolt out of bed, grab a shirt and my shotgun and stumble over to unzip the tent. Well, she shoots between my legs and races out into the yard before I can even get the flap open enough to see what's out there. Lo and behold, I catch a glimpse of a huge bull moose taking off into the trees at the top of our driveway with Ripster in hot pursuit.

So I yelled at her, which at least made her stop in her tracks; but it took both G and I several minutes to get through to her little doggy ADHD brain that she really needed to come back to the tent right now and not chase Mr. Moose, who would most assuredly kick her furry butt if she didn't back off.

Sorry, no pics... but when you live in the bush you tend to grab the shotgun and not the camera when some unknown wildlife wakes you up from a dead sleep at O'dark-thirty.

3 comments:

Linda said...

Oh boy, not a dull moment for you two/three/four (the dog and cat).

Probably Ripley did a good thing and scared Mr Moose to the timber. I hear they can get pretty mean.

An editor friend of mine in BC said she was mushing on a road with one of her tag along pet dogs. They confronted a big moose and her dog bit the mooses nose and hung on. Moose and dog went rolling down the mountain cliff w/ dog still hanging on moose nose. It was a couple of days that she found her dog alive an well. She thought he was a goner

can you strap a camera on your gun barrel : )

geneva in missouri said...

I'll have to train myself to wake up when the dogs bark at night if I finally move up 'yonder'. I get all kinds of wildlife in/near my yard all year (nothing as big as moose or bear) - deer, possums, bunnies, turkeys, Blue Herons, mallards, raccoons, stray cats, and I'm sure the odd drunk 2 legger. I have an Australian Sheperd/Dobmerman mix who barks all the time at everything (mostly the spots before her eyes, I think). I only pay attention when the other dogs start to bark.... sometimes I'll get up and look around but I never see what they see.... They also like to 'sing' together if they hear an emergency siren or another dog 'singing'.... It starts up slowly, usually with her barking with a bit of a howl mixed in then the next one starts, and the next then all of them are bark/howling. On and on it goes until something happens and all at once, at the exact same moment, they all stop. It's like a switch has been flicked off. Makes me laugh every time....

Wonder how much singing they'd do with wolves and how much they'll bark at the moose/bears...

Here's a question for everyone. Since I on a busy highway and prefer my dogs alive vs road pizza, they have a 20x50 chain-link panel kennel plus a 12x8 covered deck. I do let them run sometimes but they don't understand cars. They do LOVE to chase deer.... Would it be safer, since they are older dogs not used to freedom, to keep them in a kennel? I mean, if a moose or bear wants them, it will knock down the panel and go after them and maybe they can get away thru the opening.... I'm just curious since they (and my cats) are my kids/family/reason I get out bed to go to work and earn money to feed them....

Plickety Cat said...

Geneva, it all depends on how far you are from the road or your neighbors. Ripley has free reign while we're awake and at home... but we bring her inside at night and take her with us whenever we both go anywhere (we don't have a kennel yet). Any enclosed yard or stake & box set-up would work for the bigger dogs, I'd only really kennel them (together) at night during the worst of bear season. The cats are another matter, fences won't help there unless your cats voluntarily obey them... aerial predators are a real threat, so cats 7 small dogs need any easy-to-access covered area in their yard to escape to if necessary.

But without a doubt, get yourcritters somewhere safe at dusk and don't let them out until after dawn... they'll be less likely to become bear munchies or get their butts kicked by a moose. Not to mention that a large dog could get shot running through the woods at night since most folks assume they are wolves or coyotes so shoot first and ask questions later. No one slows down for animals on the road in the winter, they might when the road is better but there are no guarantees, so it's best to keep them away from the road unless you are with them. Ripley got it in her head that the road was part of her territory since we'd been up there a few times with her... when she toodled up there one day on her own, we sure let her know that she's not allowed up there without us EVER.